


The Shade of Your Aether

by Jessilyn



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bodyswap, Gen, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal Spoilers, goofy nonsense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:40:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28808232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessilyn/pseuds/Jessilyn
Summary: Though the Scions are returned to their bodies on the Source, it is not entirely without incident.Set post-5.3, divergence in events in final MSQ quest.
Relationships: Alisaie Leveilleur & Alphinaud Leveilleur
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	1. A New Perspective

Alisaie blinked—a normally simple action that felt strangely alien. Her corporeal flesh seemed altogether foreign, the time spent as aether contained within Auracite at once as if an instant and an eon. Groaning, she gradually sat up, eyes adjusting to the dim light of the room around her. “Did it...? Are we...?” She paused, coughing as her voice caught in her throat. Her voice sounded off, throat unmistakably hoarse. Coughing again, she cleared her throat and swallowed, hoping to soothe whatever ailed her. Perhaps she just needed some water. Only the Twelve knew when her body had last had a drink.

“We’re home.” Thancred’s voice, quiet but confident, rang throughout the room. Looking over, Alisaie spied him in the bed across from her, gaining his bearings. She, meanwhile, flopped backwards into her bed, curling up to vainly ease the pounding headache now echoing through her skull. She could only make out the blurred shape of their “courier” dashing out of the room, likely bound for the Crystal Tower.

Would that she could accompany, but it was all she could do to keep from groaning in discomfort. Whatever sort of sickness came with journeying across the rift as they had, it was unlike she’d ever had to endure before. “Alphinaud, Alisaie, are you quite alright?” Krile’s voice, one she hadn’t heard in moons, now rang through her head. She sounded tired and ragged, but cheerful as ever nonetheless. Gods, would it be nice to sit down and chat with her about everything that has happened, to both of them. 

She eased herself up into a mostly-sitting position, forcing a half-smile for her friend. “You know me, wanting for nothing. Well, a glass of water, perhaps.” Her voice was so hoarse, she almost sounded like her brother, for goodness sake. 

Tataru nodded, another welcome face. “I’ll do you one better and get a pot of tea brewing. What about you, Alisaie, is there anything I can fetch you?” Puzzled, Alisaie was about to interject, when she caught Tataru’s line of sight, gazing towards the adjacent bed containing her brother. Or...?

Wiping her eyes to ensure that fatigue or blurriness weren’t interfering, she scanned the slowly stirring form of her brother. The flash of red in his hair caught her attention first, nigh-identical to the one she typically wore. Looking down, her own braid was tied with his regular blue ribbon—perhaps someone had swapped them in jest while they were occupied on the First? But as she looked closer, she could not see the familiar differences. Normally, she could rattle off a dozen different ways an observer could pick one twin from the other, even in identical clothing. Now, however, she failed to identify even one, instead as though she was looking into a mirror.

The sinking feeling in her stomach worsened as she heard him speak, voice unsteady and significantly off his usual register, “A-Alisaie? What’s...?” The strain he spoke with was clear, likely suffering from a splitting headache just as her. Even so, the thought _That’s my voice!_ rose above all else, and instantly the swirling storm of her thoughts became a roaring tempest of whys and hows. 

With sudden vigor, she leapt from her bed onto unsteady feet. Said feet were not ready for her full weight, so she tumbled head-over-heels onto the other bed, landing in a heap on top of Alphinaud. “What are you doing in there?” Alisaie asked, the calmness in her voice surprising both of them. The raging torrents of anger and confusion and panic all seemed to cancel out, leaving an uneasy stillness in her speech. She’d come to rest above him, staring straight into his deep blue eyes as he lay on his back. It was incontrovertibly her own face she was staring at, the red hue on her lips, the subtle curve in her eyes, and a dozen other minor markers confirming it. 

Alphinaud’s eyes grew wide in recognition, shocked at hearing his own voice coming out of someone else’s mouth. “Wha—you’re me? My voice—am I you?”

She leaned back, sitting up on his thighs, watching him—in her body—move, an unreal experience. It was if her reflection had gained a life of its own, no longer bound to her movements. He was surely thinking likewise, given the way he gawked at her. She gingerly lifted an index finger and traced a line down the side of his face, feeling her own silky skin. The hurricane of thoughts she had been thinking previously had settled to a mere gale, but threatened to flare back up at a moment’s notice.

_How did this happen?_

_Someone is going to answer for this._

_I am gorgeous._

Breaking the silence in the room, Krile cleared her throat, drawing both twins’ gaze. With her voice’s typical cheeriness replaced with obvious concern, she asked “Ah, is all as it should be, you two?”

Alphinaud sat up, causing Alisaie to tumble back a bit, and after a bit of shuffling they were soon both sitting up on the bed. The pair glanced between themselves, and shared a silent understanding and a nod. To the group around them, “Alisaie” appeared to speak first. “There unfortunately seems to have been a mishap, Krile. Despite outward appearances, I am Alphinaud. By some means or another, I appear to have placed me within my sister’s body, and vice versa. Do you know how this could have happened?” 

All eyes bounced across the room, eventually landing on Krile, who seemed smaller than ever. All she could do was give a sheepish grin and a nervous gulp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha oops, got the idea for this the day 5.3 dropped and I powered through MSQ, and then I kept tinkering with it, and now 5.4's been out for a month..... Got a good number of chapters in the works for this, several written out and needing editing, so I'll try to have them out at a steady pace!! Thanks for reading, feedback is super appreciated!!!!


	2. A Curious Condition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having reacclimated to the Source, the Scions turn their full attention towards determining a solution to Alphinaud and Alisaie's perplexing predicament.

Five dull crystalline containers sat on the table, the sheen they so recently held fully absent. For Alisaie, the mere sight of them sent shivers down her stolen spine. Standing near them, G’raha gingerly lifted one—though it now sat empty, he clearly could not help but hold it with reverence. “Yes, it is as you said. Here, on the base.” She watched as his fingers idly traced two embossed letters in the metallic framing. “This one reads ‘Y-R’. Logically, one could presume it served our resident Myst—Miqo’te, I should mean. Apologies, old habits die hard.”

Y’shtola nodded, gesturing to the other Scions in the room as she spoke. “Indeed. Each vessel bears a likewise inscription, a first and last initial to signify the occupant. Simply put, our young Scions’ names do not abbreviate well in service of differentiation.”

“Alphinaud” sighed, thoroughly frustrated at her current troubles. It _would_ have been too easy for her and her brother to simply be returned to their bodies, none the worse for wear after their dalliance to the First. Instead, she was stranded in her sibling’s skin, and none too pleased about it. “I’d have hoped you and Beq Lugg would have considered these potential issues? ‘Tis a concerning error.”

Sheepishly taking a step back, the neophyte Scion stammered, embarrassed, “A-ah, yes, well, as you are well aware, they were a collaborative effort between myself and Beq Lugg, with assistance from Urianger of course. While I focused my efforts on ensuring your memories could be imbued unto the vessels, using the means at my disposal, Beq Lugg sought to find the means to safely contain, and release after your journey concluded, your souls. As I encountered difficulties with my portion of the task before us, they were thus to construct the physical vessels at their discretion, while I revised my methods for memory transference.” A deflection, or perhaps a dereliction of duty. Either way, Alisaie rolled her eyes at his stammering excuses. 

“It ought to be stated that the vessels are not alike in all respects,” Urianger interjected. With a gesture, G’raha handed him the spirit vessel he had been holding. “Thine vessels possesseth subtle ornamentation of the metalwork, evoking masculine and feminine motifs typical of Voeburtite artistry. Nu Mou are ever wont to reminisce of that bygone era, and mayhap they were Beq Lugg’s manner of instructing how thy may discern one from the other.”

“That’s all well and good, unless your caretaker happens to be someone entirely unfamiliar with this ‘Voeburt’, perhaps being native to an entirely separate shard!” Krile’s small stature was no impediment to her voice ringing out through Dawn’s Respite. She had been beside herself since the mishap had occurred, (perhaps unduly) assuming full responsibility for the twins’ predicament. Alisaie could see she was almost as eager as they were for a means to right this. 

Urianger could only shake his head, unable to disagree. “A... regrettable oversight.” 

No longer content to merely grumble to herself, Alisaie broke the quiet. “So the spirit vessels were designed such that Beq Lugg could tell one apart from the other, but Krile was not so fortunate. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t seem particularly relevant _how_ or _why_ this happened, and I’d rather we focus our thoughts on how best to rectify it. Surely, this should be easier than the entire endeavor of returning us to the Source. I mean, I can see my body _right there_!”

Her brother shook his head, a great deal less haste in his borrowed voice than hers. “It may not be so simple. With our journey home, we possessed the distinct advantage of our souls already having been divorced from our bodies. As such, the process of redirecting it into another form or container was relatively simple, and the true difficulty was ensuring safe travel across the rift. To exchange souls _between_ bodies that have been found to be suitable is another endeavor entirely. An endeavor of which I am not familiar with a successful execution, though I would hardly claim to be the most versed in such matters of present company.” 

Though G’raha’s rational mind held firm grasp of the current situation, he was still taken aback each time he heard that typically-informal voice of Alisaie Levieller be so unusually eloquent—outside of her usual jabs at her brother, dripping with sarcasm. “Yes, ‘tis as you surmise. While the white auracite could very well be once more imbued with your aether and memories while in possession of a body, as I did as Exarch, there is the lingering issue that your forms are occupied, so to speak. I was able to coalesce with, ah, myself, as it were, but we do not yet know what would happen were that to be tried on you. Perhaps it would overwrite the consciousness yet residing in the borrowed body, or perhaps a bizarre fusion or some such process occur, or perhaps even something else of even greater concern could occur that we, as of yet, could not comprehend. The risk, to your physical and aetherial well-being, is too great. The only safe way to proceed is to entirely extricate your incorporeal aether from your corporeal, then, well, return you each to your correct bodies.”

Urianger nodded, concurring. “To remove a soul from its material shell is dangerous study, to speak not of the ethical quandaries inherent. Much and more is yet unknown. By our current understanding of matters, that a soul would accept a mismatched receptacle doth beggar belief.”

“Though ‘tis yet not _entirely_ without precedent, I would remind. The aether of kin is known to bear similarities.” Y’shtola ran her hands along the metal fittings of her soul vessel. “Though only Alphinaud would be likely to recall by virtue of being present, I am told the assistance of my sister was needed to retrieve me from my first excursion to the lifestream, due to the comparable facets of our aether. It stands to reason that the both of you share an even closer connection than between myself and Mhitra, both due to the closer familial link and your shared journeys and convictions. I myself can see the color of your aether differs by but the slightest shade. It is likely through this closeness that your souls found the other’s body suitable.”

Alisaie grumbled and cleared her throat, commanding the floor. Her eyes were still rolling from Y’shtola’s impromptu lecture of aetherology. If this was her idea of a compliment, Alisaie could do without. “Again, I would see us seize the means to right this, rather than ruminate on the wherefores and whatnots. Might our assembled wisdom know of where we could begin to learn of such a means, if they are currently beyond our grasp?” The disdain dripped off her words, the conversation dragging well beyond the limits of her patience. 

“Ancient Allag had means of cloning, replicating the body to shocking specificity. If this process could be redirected from ones’ corporeal aether to the incorporeal, then perhaps we could… Though it would perhaps need to extract one’s aether, rather than...” G’raha trailed off from his interjection. His eyes darted about the room, the attention on him now clearly causing unease. Swallowing, he continued, “I confess, the further I speak on such matters, the less sure I am of their potential, but I shall make my way to Rammbroes and the Tower beyond regardless. If NOAH has uncovered anything, or some as of yet unknown knowledge remains locked with those crystalline chambers, I will endeavor to bring it to bear should it be useful to our young scions.” His earnest confidence reclaimed, he nodded to punctuate his pledge of aid. “I take it the most learned of us will scour their own stores of knowledge?”

Y’shtola’s smiled, glancing towards the bookshelves arrayed about the Rising Stones. “Indeed. Urianger and I shall see what information of the subject we may find. Perhaps against my better judgement, I have also resolved to contact Master Matoya. As caretaker of the Great Library, she represents a potential wealth of knowledge that should not lay untapped.” She shared a knowing look with Urianger, then cast her gaze at the solitary Hyur. “And you, Thancred? Keen to fetch Urianger and I books as we require?” The sly smirk adorning her face was more than she could suppress, to Alisaie’s increasing chagrin. Was no one besides her taking this seriously?

Thancred, for his part, could only scoff and shrug his shoulders. “I hope you’ll not hold it against me if I politely decline your _generous_ offer. I would leave the scholars to the scholaring, and engage in some information gathering, something more within my ken. I seem to recall our dear Warrior of Light mentioning something of an “out-of-body experience” during the retaking of Ala Mhigo, and pursuing gossip and rumors is far more my specialty. Besides, it would be wise to call upon our contacts in the Alliance, if for no other reason than to be informed with the recent happenings of the Source. ” 

Alisaie had heard enough, the unease at the other Scions’ pleasant conversation of this “curiosity” inflicting her and Alphinaud eating away at her. “To my ears, I hear lots of ‘potential’ and ‘possibilities’, with tragically little confidence. Is this really the best our collected scholars can muster?” 

However, it seemed Alphinaud was not quite of like mind, given his haste to interject and counter. “Alisaie, please! You know everyone here intends to do their full measure in assisting with what will be required. It’s unfortunate that a more sure path is not apparent to us, but all will be righted in due time, of this I am sure.” His words, even with her voice, carried that inspiring confidence he was so gifted with, both a natural talent and honed skill. Despite herself, it was reassuring, to hear the conviction with which he believed in them. She couldn’t help but feel the same way, just a little bit. 

She shook her head, feeling the slightest onze better than before. “Alright, alright. Far be it for me to doubt them. Though, for our sake, might I request dawdling be kept to a minimum?” A sheepish grin accompanied her shrug as she asked, eliciting chuckles from Thancred and Y’shtola. The meeting more or less adjourned, each Scion began to file out, each considering their own task, leaving Alphinaud and Alisaie alone in Dawn’s Respite. She looked at him, still unaccustomed to seeing her own figure from an outside perspective. “And where does that leave us, dear brother? Or mayhap, sister?” Though intended as a joke, she felt bile begin to rise in her throat as that last word escaped her lips. No, some things were beyond humoring. 

Alphinaud, for his part, seemed no more enthused than she was. “Eugh, please, would that you did not. Neither of us shall entertain aught but that I am still myself, and you your own. I am hardly inclined to call you ‘dear brother,’ nor do I suspect you are to be titled so.” 

Alisaie couldn’t help but giggle, as Alphinaud so rarely did. The absurdity of it all. “No, no, you are as correct as ever. Gods, how are we going to pass the days until this is resolved? Do you plan to read the whole time?” 

Alphinaud turned away slightly as he blushed, not wanting to acknowledge his sister’s accuracy in assessing him. “I-I would hardly, aha! I had plans... to... ah, address the Eorzean Alliance leaders! As Thancred said, ‘twould be wise to rekindle diplomatic relations as soon as is reasonable. And perhaps, the occasional run? You keep in leaner shape, I should enjoy running without becoming winded quite as easily.”

The first part was nothing unusual, but the second caught her by surprise. Though they were twins, they were hardly identical in every regard, and Alisaie _had_ always been more physically inclined. That he should just state so outright, however? She looked away in mostly-joking disdain, laughing. “Hmph! Well, if that’s the way of it, I’ll just have to take whatever advantages I may come across! We’ll call that even, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, finally up!! This chapter was the first I got down, all those months ago right after 5.3 released, so it definitely needed the most reworking. It's actually kinda wild how much I feel like I've improved just in the time I've been writing these silly fics?? but yeah, this was fun if a little rough, and I hope you enjoyed it! Do look forward to Chapter 3: Wherein Alphinaud is Dunked Upon Repeatedly. Until next time!


End file.
